a) Hold classic stocks for the long haul - Like a good wedding playlist (Kool and the Gang, Black Eyed Peas, Jay Z, Notorious BIG, Montell Jordan) these tracks will not disappoint as they are loved across generations. Apple, Verizon, Manchester United, Coach are often the most used technologies, watched sports teams, and worn jewelry items in the world. They may fall out of love briefly...so buy them when they do and press play and enjoy the ride.
b) Keep Watch for Young fiery stocks - These names take the industry by storm and rise to the top very quickly. In the music world, they are often associated with one name: Drake, Kendrick, J Cole, etc. In the stock world think Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, Google. The only problem is these stocks or albums are almost never on sale. If you find a dip, get in while you can.
c) Flip Through Old & New Songs - This is the most important category for me. I'll listen to anyone, especially if you have Lil in front of your name: Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty. Old and new artists like ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott, Joey Badass, Gucci Mane, Bruno Mars, The Weeknd. These are the songs that when played someone absolutely loves, hates, or admits they've never heard of the artist. I try to find stocks with this profile. These songs must be listened to over and over again to determine do they still have it, are they hot, or ready to flop. If they were stocks, would you bet $10K on the following:
- Lil Wayne - will the Carter 5 come out, does he still have it??
- Bruno Mars - is he the next greatest thing since MJ?? #24karat
- Lil Yachty - he's been hated on by ever hip hop purist but was just in a Target commercial...is he about to break out or break down?
- Joey Badass - Can a lyricist make it big without big crossover hits?
Take this approach, follow the news and make educated decisions. For me, I would bet on all of these scenarios above. Lil Wayne's come back story would be worth a buy, Bruno bringing R and B back, Lil Yachty giving us fun rap (sorry rap purists), and Joey keeping conscious rap alive.
I have a number of big winners in the past few years making some educated calls:
Apple - bought when ppl said they couldn't make new products or sell phones in China
Alibaba - everything on the site is counterfeit and sales would not grow
Coach - all the purses are being sold in outlet stores and no one will pay full price
Whole Foods - Whole pay check has no value because everyone sells organic
The calls for early demise in these household names were great opportunities to get in. The hardest thing is to be the only person not selling when things don't go right. I'll list my new playlist here but feel free to share yours:
Verizon - losing every wireless carrier to TMobile and Sprint
Lululemon - somehow the stock I sold last year is BACK down to the levels I bought during their last crisis
Synchrony - not so great earnings and people are starting to default on credit cards again
Gilead Sciences - they have no drug pipeline and earnings will keep getting crushed
